EIB completes its fifth Kangaroo of 2011 [UPDATED]
On February 23, European Investment Bank (EIB) (AAA/Aaa/AAA) mandated and priced a A$400 million (US$400.7 million) tap to the floating rate tranche of its May 2014 Kangaroo line. The tap brings the total line size to A$750 million outstanding in the floating rate piece and A$2.4 billion in the fixed rate note.Macquarie Group debuts US subsidiary in asset-backed market
Macquarie Equipment Finance (MEF), a US-based subsidiary of Macquarie Group, priced its inaugural securitisation on February 21 with the issue of a US$341.6 million asset-backed securities (ABS) transaction in the 144A market. Because of the nature of the business, the issuer says the US market was the most suitable funding avenue for the deal.BEN to widen retail funding mix with MTN deal
Three days after the February 14 publication of its annual results, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank (BEN) (BBB+/A2/BBB+) confirmed its plans to launch a three-year domestic retail bond issue. The transaction will be BEN's retail debut and also its first Australian dollar medium-term note (MTN) issue in any format since the merger of Adelaide Bank and Bendigo Bank in 2007.
RMBS market expected to pick up in wake of first launch
More asset-backed issuance is expected to materialise off the back of the forthcoming first transaction of 2011, with borrowers saying they are pleased with the continuing recovery of the sector. Fund managers' appetites appear to have remained steady since last year, with calls for non-vanilla structures at the top of their list.